• Marks for the final exam (out of 40) are now also available on ePost. The average was 19.
• Marks for project 1b are now also available on ePost.
• The TA will hve office hours right after the final exam to answer any questions regarding grading of project 2
• Anyone who marked any answer other than D for question 5 on the midterm should return the test to me for remarking.Otherwise, I will assume that your answer was D and deduct one point from your score.
• Midterm solutions
• Grades (out of 10 points) for Project 2 are on ePost.
• No office hours (no class either!) on July 4. Extra office hours on Thursday, July 5 12-2PM.
• Sections of the textbook to be covered on the final exam: 1, 2, 3.1-3.5, 4.1-4.6, 5.1, 6, 7, 10.1, 18.1-18.4, 19.1-19.2. You are also responsible for the material covered in class and on slides.
• Some old exams (at the bottom of the page) from Prof. Godfrey's class. I reuse many of these questions in my exams.
• The TA responsible for project 2 and 3, Wenxiao Fu, will have office hours on Friday, noon-1PM and next Tuesday 4-5PM.
• Project 3 has been posted. It is worth 10% of the total grade. The TA responsible for this project is Wenxiao Fu.
• Grades (out of 20 points) for Project 1 part A are on ePost.
• Project 2 has been posted. It is worth 10% of the total grade. The TA responsible for this project is Wenxiao Fu. She will have her office hours at 4:30-5:30 on June 20 and 22.
• Sections of the textbook to be covered on the midterm: 1, 2, 3.1-3.5, 4.1-4.6, 5.1
• Project 3 will be due on July 4. It is worth 10% of the total grade.
• Project 1B has been posted. It is worth 6% of the total grade. Solution
• The TA for Project 1, Saim Mehmood, will have office hours on June 6, 6-7PM and June 8, 5:30-7PM in Lassonde 2057.
• Project 1A has been posted. It is worth 4% of the total grade (with the remaining 6% for the second part)
• Sections of the textbook covered so far: 1, 2.1-2.3, 4.1-4.6

• Slides
• Sections of the textbook to be covered in class (subject to change): 1, 2, 3.1-3.5, 4.1-4.6, 6, 7, 8, 10.1, 10.6-7, 18.1-18.4, 19.1-19.2.

Description (from the academic calendar)

The purpose of this course is to introduce the fundamental concepts of database management, including aspects of data models, database languages, and database design. At the end of this course, a student will be able to understand and apply the fundamental concepts required for the use and design of database management systems.

Course Objectives

Students will become proficient at modeling databases at a conceptual and physical level of design. Students will be able to develop database schemas that enforce data integrity. Students will also become knowledgeable in the creation, altering, and manipulation of tables, indexes, and views using relational algebra and SQL.

Specific topics to be covered include:

• Relational Model
• Conceptual Design and the ER Model
• Normalization
• Relational Algebra
• SQL Query Language
• Transaction Management, Concurrency Control, and Recovery

Learning Outcomes for the course:

• Model databases proficiently at conceptual and logical levels of design. Use entity relationships (ER) models and ER diagrams with extension.
• Develop relational database schemas which respect and enforce data integrity represented in ER models.
• Implement a relational database schema using structured query language (SQL): create and manipulate tables, indexes, and views
• Create and use complex queries in SQL
• Write database application programs with an understanding of transaction management, concurrency control, and crash recovery.

Required Textbook / Reading

Database Systems: The Complete Book

H. Garcia-Molina, J.D. Ullman, & J. Widom

2nd edition, 2009

Pearson / Prentice Hall

ISBN: 0-13-187325-3

Useful Books / Reading

Another textbook we use for many exercises done in class:

Database Management Systems.

Third Edition, 2003.

Raghu Ramakrishnan and Johannes Gehrke

WCB/McGraw Hill.

ISBN: 0-07-232206-3

URL: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072465638/student_view0/

The grading policy is a standard one. The instructor will grade the exams. The TA will grade the projects.

York University's rules for academic honesty and plagiarism always remain in effect. Discussion is fine on the projects. However, collaboration is not. The work must be your own. Exams, of course, must be done on your own.

If you miss a test for good reason (e.g., illness with a medical document), your Final Exam grade will count for both the final exam and the missed test.

Policy on e-mail from students on course materials, and questions

• I will not answer these e-mails in general.

  My time is spent more productively for the class's sake in different ways. For pertinent questions on the materials that students send me by e-mail, or for questions that many people seem to be having, I will try to address them in class.

• If you have a burning question I have not addressed, come see me during my office hours, or make an appointment if you need to.

  Many students do this already, and it is a good use of my time and theirs. I can usually answer a question a student asks in person in about a tenth the time than by an e-mail exchange. This is because writing it out takes much longer. Also, 80% of the questions people send me, I have no idea what they are asking. We would have to go back and forth by e-mail several times before I get to the bottom of it.

• For personal requests, such as "I cannot make the test", and so forth, e-mail is fine and I will attempt to answer you directly. However, I will NEVER answer emails sent from non-York accounts. I will NEVER answer emails which are not signed.

  So I do not mind students sending questions by e-mail. By all means, continue. Just do not necessarily expect a direct reply. I do read them, and mostly I try to address the issues and questions people have raised. If your question or issue remains after some time, let me know. For anyone who believes that I am purposely ignoring them, my apologies.

Policy on project/test regrading or reappraisal

• DB2: Getting-started instructions (These notes are specific for us!)
• DB2: Getting-started instructions (version prepared by our tech staff)
• SQL
  • IBM: SQL, Getting Started (for DB2)
  • IBM: SQL Reference
• DB2: Lots more DB2 documentation
  • IBM DB2 Universal Database: Online Information
    Hosted locally here at York.